Phew

Wow, a week without blogging. I'm having withdrawal symptoms, although I have just about managed to catch up with the other blogs I read. Apologies if you've left me a comment and I haven't got back to you yet. Also, sometimes people leave a comment and Blogger doesn't provide me with an email address to reply, so I'm not sure what to do about that. Any ideas anybody?

My lovelife did a sort of inside-out, loop-the-loop this week, so I haven't spent a great deal of time at home (and haven't been checking email. And HOW many posts were there on UKHK when I finally got on the website to check up?!)

I'm just back from my nephew's (and now Godson's) Christening:

This is the action shot, taken by my Mum (who didn't realise there was a zoom function on the camera). It was a good service, although poor Noah has a tummy upset so wasn't his usual perky (kitchen cupboard emptying and wooden spoon whacking) self.

I've also begun training for the Knitting Olympics. The challenge for me is going to be sticking to one project at a time so I had a practice yesterday at Knit Lincs and only knitted away on my jumper (well, OK, I was nattering so much I only did 10 rows in total anyway!). Progress is shown below, alongside my second Curious Yarns sock. I got the heel turned whilst on the train home from London, sometime this week (can't remember which day was which now). There is some unknitting to do, as there is a woobly cable on the jumper. Might do that tonight, whilst watching the Virgin Queen. My first sock was a little big at the heel, so I'm doing a slightly shorter heel for this one to see what happens. If I like it I'll frog the first one back to the heel section and re-do the foot.

Also in the pic is Debbie Abraham's More Blankets and Throws which I picked up from the library yesterday. Lincolnshire libraries (who are of course lovely, fluffy and staffed by wonderful people) have really gone a bundle on getting in knitting books. They always seem to be on loan though, which is at least a good sign (where are all these knitters?). Anyway, lovely book, lovely pictures, want to knit loads.... *sigh*.

Oooooohhhhh - and we had 10 people at Knit Lincs! Another record AND we're into double figures! It was ace, actually I ended up staying on about an hour and a half longer cos I was talking. Again.

About a fortnight ago I finished my needle case and finally took a pic of it (have given up waiting for daylight, it's never going to happen):

What do you think? The fabric was from the remnants bin at Dunelm Mill and cost about £1.70 in total (!). I wish I'd made it a bit longer as some of my longest needles are too long, but I might make them a case of their own and leave this one to house normal length needles.

I also spent three days in Norfolk working this week:

It was grey. The sea was grey. The sky was grey. Even my car is grey. I took this beach pic at 8 o'clock one morning before I went into work and it was FREEZING! However, the building I'm working in has heating and it's lovely!! I turned up on Monday morning wearing my usual 8 layers of jumpers, as I usually need for work, to find that this place has heating. A revelation. I love heating. What a good idea.

I'm back there again this week so if you leave a comment (which would be nice) I will try and reply as soon as possible.
Have a good week. Hey, I might even do a blog update midweek this week...

Rag rugs

Thanks to JenLas blog for the GB Olympic team button, the Knitting Olympics one is from the Yarn Harlot. I'll get these put in the sidebar soon, once I've finished this picture-full post.



Also, thank you for all the comments and emails I've had about my choice of what to knit for the Olympics! I think the variety of things I have to do in that time (which is no way out of the ordinary, that's what my life looks like!) helped me decide. I knew I'd be away from home for four nights - which would provide a lot of knitting time, but I couldn't afford to get stuck on a new technique/complicated pattern as I wouldn't have internet access whilst away, and I already need to take a pile of books with me for work! (I did momentarily consider ringing round the B & Bs in the area I'm going to to see if they were run by knitters, but thought that was maybe a little extreme!). This ruled out having a go at lace or magic loop or whatever. Time away from home and the train journeys meant that something portable was necessary - ruling out large lace creations or a top for me. The yarn diet (ahem, which I've been sticking to religiously. Ahem) meant using stash yarn was preferable. And baby jumpers are for charity! There. Decision made!

I spent yesterday on a rag rug making course - run by Lincolnshire County Council Adult and Community education. I'd booked onto it in September as I thought it would cheer me up during the grey old days of January. Typically I was late arriving as I had the shortest distance to come (one lady had even come up from Stamford for the day!).
There were 16 of us on the course:

We were a variety of ages (and wonder of wonders - I wasn't the youngest!) and experience (much like Knit Lincs) and everyone was nice and chatty (again, like Knit Lincs).

The instructor, Janet, showed us some rugs she'd made and pictures of other designs. (note the tea urn on the right hand side, we had tea on tap all day. Yum!) She explained two techniques - hooking (cue lots of jokes about hookers!) and snipping. We spent the rest of the morning having a go ourselves and then after lunch (we'd brought packed lunches but only stopped for about 10 minutes as we were all keen to keep going!) Janet showed us some smaller, more intricate ones she'd made to use as wall-hangings:

This is my piece of hessian, complete with tape measure, pen and tea, whilst I have a think about what I want to do:


I've decided to do six squares using the two different techniques. At the bottom here are pink and mauve hooks and the top (floppier rags in a darker purple) are snips. On the right is the hooking thingummy:

It has grown a little more since then, but not dramatically. I also need to get the sewing machine out to put webbing round the edges before it frays to nothing. Hopefully I'll get a chance to finish it off sometime, then I'll have my own real life rag rug! The course was great fun, and it was good to get to know some other crafty people. I got talking to a girl who goes to one of the other knitting groups in Lincoln, and also got about 6 people interested in coming to Knit Lincs! ;-)

And here, to reward you for your patience in reading about rag rugs, is a knitting pic! My fingerless mittens using Fyberspates DK 100% wool in Wild Foxglove, following a Fyberspates pattern. I bought this yarn from Getknitted a while ago, then was annoyed to find they'd put this yarn in the sale! Grrrrrrr. The gloves are lovely and warm. I made them quite a bit longer to help keep my wrists warm at work whilst I get round to knitting Mrs Beeton (don't worry, I have yarn in the stash for that!)


Anybody else totally fed up with January? I'm sick of the grey grey skies and the grey grey earth and the grey grey cold. One of the nice things about the rag rug workshop was that the sun was shining in through the windows which made everything seem happy!

Knitting Olympics!

I've signed up for Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics!

Hmm. 10th - 26th February. I calculate that I have two Knit Lincs meetings, four nights away for work, nine days at work, two days in London, 300 miles of train travel and 600 miles of car travel (but with me driving) to get done in that time too. So I've decided to combine it with the Feed the Children baby jumper knitting and have committed to making two during that time (aha, but I haven't specified which sizes!). If I get two done I'll start another one, but I've got no idea how realistic this is, as I'm not a very fast knitter, and the last one I made took ages to sew together.

The thinking is that baby jumpers are reasonably portable for taking on the train and when I'm away for work. I also don't need to buy any more yarn as I can use stash.

Now all I have to do is put the button on the blog...

Grrrrrrrrrrr trains

I missed my train home from London Kings Cross today. In fact I ran onto the platform just as it started to pull out. It's probably my fault as I had been in Loop just beforehand, but if the bus had actually come when it was meant to, and there hadn't been roadworks I'd have got there in time. I only had a Cheap Day Return, and didn't want to hang around for another four hours waiting for the next cheap period (as I'd have had to spend more on transport in London and buy food etc and wouldn't have got home until after 10pm), so had to fork out £22 for an upgrade.

£22

OK, it could have been worse. I had my railcard with me which saved some money, but think how much yarn I could have bought with £22. Booo hoo hoooooo.

Oh, and I was very good in Loop. I just got some yarn for my SP and the winter Interweave Knits for me. See - no diets broken!

Seduction!!

Your Seduction Style: Sweet Talker

Your seduction technique can be summed up with "charm" You know that if you have the chance to talk to someone... Well, you won't be talking for long! ;-) You're great at telling potential lovers what they want to hear. Partially, because you're a great reflective listener and good at complementing. The other part of your formula? Focusing your conversation completely on the other person. Your "sweet talking" ways have taken you far in romance - and in life. You can finess your way through any difficult situation, with a smile on your face. Speeding tickets, job interviews... bring it on! You truly live a *charmed life*

What Kind of Seducer Are You?

Seven times seven meme

I've been tagged by Sue, so thought I'd do it now just before bed cos otherwise I'll forget!


Seven Times Seven Meme

Seven things to do before I die:-
- travel beyond Europe.
- learn how to knit really well.
- have children
- learn how to cook properly
- buy myself a house (with lots of room for yarn and friends).
- drive on big scary roads.
- read all the books and knit all the patterns I'd like to.

Seven things I cannot do:-
- cook intuitively (although I love watching people who can!)
- drink more than one glass of wine without ending up on the floor and/or fast asleep.
- drive on big scary roads.
- intarsia
- see very much without my glasses on.
- drive without thinking what a waste of time this is cos I could be knitting. In fact do pretty much anything without thinking what a waste of time this is cos I could be knitting.
- be patient

Seven things that attract me to blogging:-
- friendships and knitting chums
- ideas for projects/shops/yarns/patterns/food
- sense of belonging to an international community
- pretty pictures
- getting comments on my blog!
- Secret Pal exchanges!
- Hey- I'm an email addict - the comments on my blog go straight into my inbox!

Seven things I say most often:-
- bizarre
- cool
- weird
- baaaaaa
- SOOTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
- ta duck (a Lincolnshire expression).
- coughcoughcoughcoughcoughcough (at the moment).

Seven books that I love:-
- Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
- Possession - A.S. Byatt
- Bridget Jones - Helen Fielding
- An Equal Music - Vikram Seth
- Vita Brevis - Jostein Gardner
- The Bell - Iris Murdoch (hey, I lived in a religious community once, and I nearly got killed doing it, so it's all a bit close to reality, spookily so in fact as I first read this before all that.)
- The Floating Book - Michelle Lovric

Seven movies I watch over and over again:-
- The chronicles of Narnia (well I will once it comes out on DVD)
- Harry Potters (although they scare me, but not as much as big roads do).
- Amen
- Amelie
- Moulin Rouge
- Chicago
- Pride and Prejudice (does the BBC one count as a movie? I haven't seen the Keira Knightley film one yet).

Seven people I want to join in too (but only if they want to!):-
- My SP once they've revealed themselves (liked that idea Sue!).
- Anybody else who feels like it

Stuff

Oooooh my Secret Pal has been in touch! I've had an epostcard and a couple of emails and a comment on the blog! This is SO exciting. I've been in touch with the person I've spoiling too and had a reply from her/him. Now to start thinking of a shopping list... SP shopping is so much fun cos it doesn't matter if you're on a yarn diet as it doesn't count and I like spoiling someone else.

Sunday was a wildly exciting day. I cleaned the flat. Wow. Partly because there was nowhere left to sit and the floor couldn't be seen, and partly because I'm coughing a lot and I thought getting rid of some dust might help. And partly because I needed to re-sort out my stash as it's taking up quite a lot of room now.

Meanwhile, after talking to Denise at Knit Lincs on Saturday about the Year of Living Generously, I've signed up (again). Denise said she'd signed up a while ago (like me) and heard nothing so she'd signed up again and that got things moving. So I'm trying again.

Yesterday I worked out my Ecological Footprint (well I couldn't clean the flat ALL day, could I?!). Mine isn't TOO bad compared to the average for the UK, but it's still not good. My footprint is 3.8 global hectares, and the average here is 5.3. I'm going to have a think about how to reduce mine further, but it's difficult - I scored quite well for being vegetarian, not eating much processed/overly packaged food, hardly producing any rubbish and living in a small flat, which is also attached to another (ie better insulation). However I do travel about 450 miles a week, a third of that on public transport. There's not an awful lot I can change there, apart from eventually finding a job in one place and settling there. Neither can I up the proportion done on public transport due to various work-related factors. At least my car is small and fairly fuel efficient, although I do usually travel alone (again, due to work). One of my aims for this year is to move jobs, which would dramatically reduce my mileage and might make it more feasible to walk/use public transport/share lifts.

And I have some Charisma yarn!



You may remember from a while ago that Hazel gave me the balls she had left over which was enough to make the short version of a skirt in Simply Knitting. I was going to get some more of the yarn from Texere so I could make the long version, but Texere then sold out before I got my act together. The yarn came from a mill that has since closed. I put out emails on various lists and asked around and found Charisma Cashmere/Lambswool in every colour but the one I wanted. Then. Suddenly. About 10 days ago I found 10 balls of the right shade on Ebay. In Hong Kong. And I needed another 14 balls. So I emailed the seller who said that she had another 4 balls worth that she'd frogged from a project and she offered to include them if I won the auction. Which I did! So now I have all the yarn I need for the longer skirt! Woo hoo. :-)

Obviously this doesn't count in the yarn diet either as it's yarn I'd been looking for for a long time...

What a week!

Ooooh, what a week I've had. Several records have been broken. I started back at work and did four days this week (which is the most I've done in a LONG time). That meant a couple of nights away and the longest drive I've ever done (see, a record broken). OK, so 110 miles down to Bury and then 110 back again may not seem like much. But you have to bear in mind that I'm a rather hesitant driver and actually didn't drive for a couple of years as I found it too scary. This is partly to do with learning to drive in Lincolnshire, as we don't have BIG roads here. We have roads that go round fields and have tractors on them. I've been driving now for 9 years and have driven on a motorway precisely 5 times (!). So I've done loads of driving this week, the downside is that it feels like a lot of time wasted as I could have been knitting. :-(

The yarn diet is proceeding brilliantly. Ahem.

OK, so most of this was in the sale at Yarnsmith. 9 balls of black and 2 balls of light purple. All intended for Tubey. So it doesn't really count as breaking the yarn diet as I was going to do the pattern anyway and, of course, it would have been silly to buy it later on when it's not on sale! I wanted another contrast colour and didn't like the others at Yarnsmith so when I was in John Lewis on Thursday I bought the ball of green sitting on the top. (OK so this was full price, but obviously I couldn't get started without it so that doesn't count either). I met up with Yvonne in the yarn dept at John Lewis, which was cool. We had a rootle through the sale bins (just about everything was yellow or orange. Yuck. :-( ) and Yvonne helped me choose the green Cashmerino Aran. And we went for a cup of tea and to talk knitting. She had her Mrs Beeton wristwarmers on, and they're lovely. I'm going to have to make some I think, as they'd be so warm for work.

Jaywalkers are coming along. I was worried that they'd be too big, and they are slightly bigger than my other hand-knitted socks, but I think they'll be OK (and I got so many funny looks trying them on for size on the train!).

The next record broken was at Knit Lincs:

We had nine people! And several of them were new so we are definitely growing! I met Nic for the first time as she'd driven down for the meeting. I like meeting fellow knit bloggers. I thought it might be strange meeting people whom I'd only "met" online before but everybody so far has been really nice and friendly and just like their blogs, only better cos you get to see the knitting for real and talk to them over a cup of tea!

The other excitement of the week was this parcel:

A muffin parcel from Frances! Thank you Frances!

My SP has been in touch and sent me emails and blog comments. This is so cool and exciting. I'm being like a small child again (those that know me would say "as usual")

Bye bye for now, next week is another mad week with loads of driving, although at least I get to sleep at home every night this time.

Secret Pal 7 Questionnaire

Hello Secret Pal! Hope you're having a nice day! I'm looking forward to hearing from you! *big wave*. I just thought I'd better warn you that I work away from home for about half of each week. Don't worry, there's always someone here to get parcels/post etc but when I'm at work I don't have internet or email access. So there may be a delay in replying to you or in letting you know that something has arrived. I will try to let you know as soon as I can, and shouldn't be away for more than 3/4 days at a time!


1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand?
I now know what Red Heart and Lion Brand are and I think they're much better than the equivalent English cheapy acrylic stuff! That Magic Stripes sock yarn was pretty much indistinguishable from Opal! I prefer natural fibres but do use manmade stuff in the funky yarns and for stuff that needs to be machine washable (eg baby clothes)

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
No to both, although I did try spinning once ages ago and really enjoyed it.

3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I'm halfway through making a needle case/roll thing for my straight needles. My DPNs and circulars are all stuffed in a cupboard!

4. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
Just over a year. I'm somewhere between beginner and intermediate. So far I've managed everything I've attempted (including socks, garments, cables etc) and I'm about to embark on lace!

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes! Go to Amazon.co.uk and search for my wish list under "Daisychains" or by my email address.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I love lavender and citrussy smells like lemon or bergamot. I won't use products that have been tested on animals.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Silly question if you could see the amount of chocolate I get through! I don't eat Nestle products (cos they're evil!)

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I sometimes do cross stitch, and very occasional card-making. Oh and I'm going on a rag-rug making course in 10 days time!

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Classical, Dido, Cranberries, Iona, film soundtracks (like Bridget Jones!). My computer can play MP3s.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love colours in the purple/burgundy/plum/pink range of colours. The only colours I really hate are lime green and orange!

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I've got a boyfriend who lives on the other side of the country! I live in what was a granny flat next door to my Mum's house. She has a cat (Sooty) who visits me regularly!

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes to scarves, hats and mittens but a big NO to ponchos! Actually it's so cold where I work that I wear hats, scarves and fingerless mittens (so I can type) there!

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
Oooh well so far I've loved RYC Cashsoft and Opal and Regia sock yarn. Oh and sock yarn from Curious Yarns! I love handpainted/dyed/variegated yarn.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
There's nothing I totally hate, but I'm not that keen on Rowan Summer Tweed (something about the texture).

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Socks, definitely socks. I'm completely obsessed.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Er. Socks?!

17. What are you knitting right now?
Erm. That would be socks... Actually the Jaywalker pattern. I also have a jumper in Jaeger Chamonix on the go (see previous posts), and I've just got the yarn to make Tubey.

18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Ooooh yes please!

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Both! I have a set of Denises and some other circulars as well as straights. I knit socks on DPNs or two circulars (and have the Magic Loop booklet so I'm about to learn that too!)

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
All. Any.

21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No but I'd like too!

22. How did you learn to knit?
From the Stitch n' Bitch book.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
Erm. About 10 days?! (I had a big UFO finishing-off session before Christmas!)

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I like horses and cats.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
Youth hostelling or camping in a beautiful part of the UK with plenty of walking and trips to yarn shops (and time for knitting) thrown in.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
Erm. Does yarn count?!

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Simply Knitting (UK Magazine)

28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on?
Oooh, yes. See my Amazon wish list, the Curious yarns website, the list is endless...

29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Probably not at the moment as I'm about to launch into learning Magic Loop and lace knitting...


30. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Am I a human being? I love knitting socks! Foot measurements - UK 5.5 AA width. That translates as 9.5" length and about 7" round the foot (they are very narrow!)

31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
October 18th

Knitting on the radio

Thank you for the encouragement everyone! I was on Radio Lincolnshire this morning and, despite being absolutely petrified beforehand, really enjoyed it once I was in the studio! Debbie's (from Knit Lincs) DH had given me loads of useful tips beforehand as I'd never done anything like this before. The DH of another friend recorded it so I've had a chance to hear myself (a very strange experience hearing yourself talking). And I didn't cough once! Although I've still got to get the honey and lemon out of the car mat where I knocked my drink over on the way there! Oops.

I took a couple of pics whilst I was there:

This is the presenter, Chris, halfway through his first row! It was quite hard to teach him as I was sitting opposite him, rather than alongside so I had trouble visualizing what he should be doing! He also held the needles differently, but seemed comfortable like that...

Afterwards I got the producer (Les?) to do a row too. It turned out that he'd learnt at school and it was entertaining to watch as he made his first stitch and it all came flooding back to him!

They were both nice and friendly, it all felt very relaxed which helped me to keep calm throughout. The producer was seated in a sort of reception area and let me sit with him and watch whilst he connected people to a phone-in just before my item. It was fascinating watching how everything worked and seeing messages flying backwards and forwards between the producer, the presenter and the outside world. I'd always thought until now that men could only do one thing at a time (!!) but these two proved otherwise! There only seemed to be about three people in the whole place, as I had to wait outside for the person who'd read the 11 o'clock headlines to come and let me in! Anyway, it was a good insight into what goes on to get the radio on the air. I'd had a tour of Radio Lincolnshire ages ago when I was doing my Queen's Guide Award and they were friendly then, but having a chance to watch a show being made and taking part in it was excellent!

Hopefully we'll also get loads of new members for Knit Lincs from this too.
Not much knitting progress to report at the moment. I'm working near Bury St Edmunds for the first part of this week, and am then in London so if you leave me a comment or an email I'll get back to you on my return.

Oh, and I know I'm on a yarn diet, but. Well. It was on sale. And I always did intend to get the yarn for Tubey soon... Some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran should be winging its way to me from Yarnsmith as I type (or probably not. It's Sunday today).

Listen to me live on radio!

I must be mad putting this on here but:
several people have emailed me and asked about it, so:
I think it will be possible to listen to me rambling on about knitting live on Radio Lincolnshire, even if you live outside the area. It's on 94.9 FM if you're in the Lincolnshire area. Outside that you should be able to get it online through:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/radiolincolnshire/
(click on "listen live").
The interview is at about 11.20am GMT on Sunday 8th Jan.
*gulp*

Feeling very scared...

I've been asked to do an interview on Radio Lincolnshire - live on Sunday morning! It'll be about Knit Lincs, which should, hopefully, be great for the group as we might get more members (exactly who does listen to Radio Lincolnshire on Sunday mornings?!). But I'm really scared. It's going out live, which means I'm certain to say something really stupid AND have a coughing fit. Very very scary. Eeeeeeeeeeeek.

The stonking cold is still with me, although it's getting better now (apart from the cough, which could make the interview extra inaudible!). I am really fed up with being off work, as I seem to have been off for weeks (OK, OK, there was a two week gap over Christmas anyway) and being self-employed means no sick pay. :-( And don't get me started on ringing the benefits helpline - I'm sure they deliberately ask you every inane question ever when they realise you've got a sore throat and want to talk as little as possible! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The one bonus has been extra knitting time:

Broadripple socks finished! I did take a picture of them with my feet inside but my hairy legs were on display, so the picture is not appearing on here. Does anyone actually bother to shave their legs in winter? I just can't see the point.



Jaywalker socks using the Curious sock yarn are growing well. DB says that this looks like a little chimney is growing out of my windowsill! Will very soon be at the heel turn for these. Curious yarns were featured in the latest Simply Knitting so they'll probably be inundated with orders now (well they probably were already as their yarn is ace!). The socks are next to the Narcissus on my windowsill, which has just burst into flower.

I finished the back of Cranberry last night. A satisfying quick knit, only the front and sleeves to go now! The yarn is lovely to work with, very soft and cuddly. It's going to be a wonderful jumper to wear (I hope).

Meanwhile, I've been fulfilling some New Year's Resolutions. I failed the one about not getting a sore throat again (that lasted approx 1 day into the New Year, but I'm not sure what I could do about it!). I did however get my electricity supplier switched to a green company. I used USwitch and have moved to Ecotricity (which is also marginally cheaper per year, so now I have an extra £7.54 a year to spend on yarn!). I read up about green electricity suppliers in advance on Ethiscore. I've got some stuff to clear out which I'm going to put on Freecycle.
And, whilst browsing on Money Saving Expert, I found a link to this site:
5 minutes away - which provides details of places to get food, drink, loos and petrol within five minutes of motorway junctions so you don't have to spend a fortune on plastic food at motorway service stations!

New Year Knitting

I've had a bit of a New Year tidy-up of the sidebar. The SP6 button needed to go, and to be replaced with the SP7 one, and I have finally managed to save the Curly Whirlies and Scarf Style buttons so I don't go bandwidth stealing! Very exciting - SP7 starts very soon!
Also, I've joined another knitting related Yahoo group - Add, Sell and Buy. Partly in my ongoing quest for Charisma Cashmere/Lambswool (feels like doing a treasure hunt!) and partly out of interest. Here's the link if anyone else wants to join.



Click to join addsellandbuy


Whilst playing around on the computer earlier, I discovered this old (2002) episode of Woman's Hour, which features the Cast Off knitters. Go and listen, it's only about 9 minutes long. There is also a New Year's Day Cast-On to listen to.

On my previous post I talked about some knitting resolutions for this year, and I've got it off to a great start by joining the Tubey Knit-Along! This group is growing alarmingly fast, as I was, I think, the third to join, and the list is much longer now! I'm now weighing up what to knit Tubey with - either Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, which I could get in London on 12th January, or RYC Cashsoft Aran, which I could get today! Or maybe not as I've got a stonking cold so may not venture into town for a while. (Thank you Mum for being really generous and sharing your cold with me!)

After so many pictures of snow and not-snow here are some knitting pics to cheer everyone up!

Broadripple socks are getting there. Can't wait to get them finished, now that I have some Cascase Fixation to try out the pattern for "real" with! However, I did get a little distracted by my Curious sock yarn:

Knit Obsession has some in the same colourway (candies) which are nearly finished. Woolly Warbler has some in a different colourway, using the Jaywalker pattern, which is the one I've started. The yarn looks totally yummy and I've been admiring all the socks people have made on the Jaywalker Knit-Along. It seems that both Knit Obsession and Woolly Warbler were worried about running out of the second colour (for cuffs, heels and toes) but both had just enough. Think I should be OK as I'm making the smaller size, although I am using a smaller needle than the pattern (was too impatient to start and didn't have any 2.25mm DPNs so am using 2mm instead! The gauge looked like it was OK...)

And at the other end of the spectrum, on 6.5mm needles is this:

The Cranberry pattern from Jaeger JB10 (Chamonix). Back in August I spent ages tracking some more of the Chamonix down and was going to make a plainer pattern, but then I was smitten with cable temptation. Oh and I had to make something called "Cranberry" just after Christmas didn't I?! This is the back and I've just started the armhole shaping. It's a very quick knit and really enjoyable. I like needles this size, as I haven't enjoyed wrestling with enormous 15mm ones. 6.5mm is just big enough to be comfortable and makes a nice change from the ickle tiny DPNs!